Menopause Confessions: Here’s what I did to roll-off hormone therapy.

Photos of Grazia by Headshot Soho

14 February, 2024.

Dear Mia,

How are things with you, Lovely.

You asked me about what has helped me roll off HRT successfully– so here’s a run down.

Let me list, a bit randomly, what were helpful stepping stones as well as game changing discoveries on my road to rolling off HRT without having to run back to it.

My First Step..

You know the background as to why I stopped HRT - because of my family health history, this nagging doubt never really went away while I was on hormone replacement therapy. My hope was to one day transition off HRT.

But it felt like a real impossiblity - impossible because of how I had felt on it (although there were some blips appearing which pushed me to try to get off HRT even more. As well as concerning research that implied there maybe a link to Alzheimers).

I was told HRT was for life.

So I was led to believe. I was told my menopause symptoms would return if I tried to roll off.

That really did scare me!

Despite my fear, I decided to take a closer look at a few things – firstly – supplements, looking at them more seriously than I had in the last 30 years.

I had always seen supplements as something to take just in case, rather than for real relief and support, as was the case now

Secondly, I thought about a persistent doubt: does the body really just drop most of us off a cliff when we start our peri menopause and menopause journey, does it really stop helping us once our reproductive years are over.

Thirdly, I started on intermittent fasting and ketogenic eating. This change gave me, within 1 month of starting, the results and confidence to spontaneously decide to rolll off hormone therapy. Something inside me knew I could continue with appropriate supplementaton, healthy eating and exercise. I felt I had passed the worst of menopause symptoms - the reason I had gone onto hormone therapy in the first place.

I was right but….

What you soon realize in menopause is that the body is ever changing and solutions that work for a while can change or stop working!

Does the body really disown us and leave us to horrible peri menopause and menopause symptoms, to struggle on our own, against the very body that gave us so much more earlier in our lives?

Or can we have more control over conditions like peri menopause or menopause without relying solely on pharmaceuticals or similar?

I’ve always been an optimist and a believer in what is possible.

Is this making sense so far?

Hope so if not let me know

Success – of sorts.

It took me digging and research and discussions with experts to find out that actually, the body does adapt and does help us as we enter the menopause journey.

Menopause's Hidden Heroes: The Adrenal Powerhouses

Peri menopause and menopause do reveal a secret weapon, if you know where to go looking: our adrenals, two powerhouses weighing about 7 grams each (my personal superheroes) – one sitting atop each kidney.

They are tiny!

Yet it appears that if they are in good condition as you enter perimenopause (and beyond), they step up to the plate, producing several hormones as the ovaries shut down and stop production of some of the same hormones.

BREAKING NEWS - So we all have back up as peri menopause and menopause starts knocking on our body’s door!

And in my experience, if you take care of the adrenals they will help you in your menopause journey

Amazing, right?!

I had no idea my question would yield really helpful information for my peri menopause and menopause journey.

Has it helped you, too?

Just goes to show how digging and knowledge and educating oneself can pay big dividends.

‘The rub’ is however, that the adrenals often arrive at our peri menopause or menopause phase in a poor state because they have been pretty busy supplying us with, amongst other things, the stress hormone throughout our lives.

So the poor little guys front up in perimenopause and menopause often pretty exhausted.

Its hard work for them to then kick in and start doing their job, as mother nature designed, to take over as estrogen slows down towards retirement, when their in this poor state.

📌So my experience told me that supporting adrenals as we enter peri menopause is vital.

Reducing inflammation is one of the biggest games in town when it comes to menopause. As we deplete key hormones, especially estrogen, inflammation starts to rear its head even more in our bodies.

Explains why I got so injured in late perimenopause when once I could easily go for a 10km run, injury free!

Heart, Brain, Bone Health – I can definitely notice a difference in my heart and brain and bones compared to my 20’s and 30’s. I have always been physically active. A gym junkie you might call me in my earlier years. I did notice a difference in my heart rate when I started to get into late peri menopause.

HRT did help with this (not so much helping with brain fog, rather getting better sleep did that job for me).

So now off HRT, I continue in success with a keen focus on diet, exercise, rest, relaxation and if necessary, supplementation taking over the baton where HRT left off

Sleep if not, then no relief

I wish someone had pulled me aside and explained truly how important sleep is, especially as we enter peri menopause and menopause.

I would have had such a clearer, less stressed journey!

📌Sleep, or the lack of it, leads to a vicous cycle of increasing stress (nerves are jangled because of sleep deprivation), hot flashes increase in intensity and frequency (stress helps drive this), brain fog increases (I couldn’t think straight and thought I was losing it..

..when really it was a combination of a the body in shock over the drop in estrogen and not being able to sleep because of hot flashes and like my liver working overtime to try to stablise glucose and to regulate hormones (now depleting)) -

..so spare a thought for what your body goes through during peri menopause especially.

Because of realizing how important sleep is – I decided to turn my approach to rolling off HRT on its head:

📌I prioritized quality (not quantity) sleep . The knock on effects are incredible to how well you cope in menopause.

In my experience (and research suggests) sleep is critical to anyone entering peri menopause and menopause.

If sleep is just not possible, because of hot flashes or night sweats or insomnia – then look into it.

There are options out there.

📌The one thing I would say to you dear Mia, is don’t think you have to go it alone.

I did and I regret it.

Connect with someone you can confide in. In my own experience, I regret not seeking advice sooner.

Someone I respected. Thought had ‘my type of experience’ to act as a bouncing board.

I know I would have gotten out of engulfing overwhelm and confusion a lot quicker and with less stress if I had reached out for help.

Also, keep in mind that whatever brings you relief at the moment—like my choice with HRT—doesn't have to be a ‘forever’ solution.

📌Instead, the solution can serve as a resting stop, giving you time to re-group, gather strength and, whenever you are ready – maybe think about what the next step should be – like I did with rolling off HRT.

My ‘go to’ supplements

My defintion of supplements for myself includes adaptogens and natural foods (like tumeric and garlic) - which marvellously adapt to your specific situation in your body. They are my favourite and my heros)

I’ve never really believed supplementation did work – I always took some as a sort of insurance policy. A just in case approach.

I have focussed on diet and exercise most of my life. But heading towards menopause, I had to redo, re think and experiement heaps to land on something that works in the pre menopause and post menopause journey.

Back to supplmenets

What I have learnt through research, consulting copious numbers of experts both medically trained and as alternative therapists (including herbalists, naturopaths, phytologists and chinese medicine practitioners), and of course in my own experience of having rolled off HRT.

.. is that supplements should be just that – supplementing.

I've learned that supplements become important when my body lacks the nourishment it doesnt get, especially when food, after exercise, and as I continue to adjust my lifestyle (like managing stress) aren't enough wihtout help from supplements.

We also need to be aware that most food (natural, not processed) we should eat especially in menopause (but at any age!) does not have all the nutrients it used to have. WHY? because of soil depletion now used only have the minimum number of minerals and vitamins.

Read more HERE ’Dirt Poor: Have Fruits and Vegetables Become Less Nutritious?’ I love going back in time, in this article, back to 2011, to sometimes get a clearer picture than now.

Try, also, if you can to stretch your budget to organic produce and supplments where you can and where available. Organic doesnt guarantee more nutrients but atleast, if the regulators do their job, organic labels should minimise the chances of nasty pesticides and contaminated soil.

So I’ve landed on a my own supplement ‘Core Kit’ that serves me really well in post HRT. WARNING - note that our bodies are dynamic. What do I mean? What troubled me in early menopause (I think I started around 38 years of age but didnt know it), doesnt trouble me so much now - decades on.

Have faith that your body adjusts - great news.

But know that you need to get to know your body and adjust what you take in supplements by listening to your body.

So my list below is what I have landed on through trial and error and what makes the management of symptoms or more importantly support of my body to deal with symptoms, very helpful.

As stated always, this is not medical advice. Please always check with your primary health care provider before considering any form of therapy or supplement.

My own go to supplements are:

(1) Wild Alaskan Fish oil (I take up to 6 capsules a day spread over the day) for brain and has, surprisingly, almost removed hot flashes and their severity

(2) Cats Claw tincture - first thing (for hot flashes) - only need one dose in plain water in the morning. Watch out if you decide to try it, it’s a bit bitter! I take it first thing upon waking, once a day usually.

(3) Maca powder to keep us alkaline (not acidic) and for thyroid & hot flash health (from Peru. Good research on yellow, green and black Maca powder).

When starting Maca, I found I shed a ton of water and my anxiety seemed to calm down. I started Maca with 1/2 teaspoon in sparkling water with 1/4 teaspoon each of: lemon juice (fresh please!), apple cidar vinegar (make sure its not diluted) and Celtic sea salt (it is best on an empty stomach and especially good just before bed. It helps you sleep. Trust me!).

I was taking Maca about 5 times a day and now take it about 1-2 times per week. An example how the body is dynamic, and adjusts. I now need less MAca than I did

(4) Vitamin D3 liquid (made from lanolin) for immune health, K2 (with Vitamin D) to make sure calcium is not deposited into our arteries by Vitamin D!

(5) Freshly ground flaxseeds (1 TBspoon). Claimed to be an adaptogen that helps influence or control estrogen. This is vital as our body, in menopause especially, recycles about 90% of the remaining estrogen made by your body in menopause. We also want to make sure we have the good estrogen and not the bad or the ugly type of estrogen floating around our body and flaxseed is reported to help influence this ‘modulation’ with the liver.

PS if you want me to tell you more about these estrogens in a blog or YouTube video - contact me HERE

(6) 1 piece of fresh curcumin (tumeric), peeled, chopped finely, wrapped in coconut oil to help taste and health benefits (the oil hardens in the cold weather, a bit like grainy butter, which is my favourite texture), make sure you add ground black pepper (to activate the tumeric), lemon juice (to cut through the fatty taste of cocnut oil, for me anyway!).

(7) I add fresh Ginger root (helps calms stomach, claimed to help manage insulin resistence, glucose and more - Research HERE) and garlic (raw. great antibiotic and contains allicin (‘antioxidant, anticancer, antimicrobial, anti-asthmatic, immunoregulator, blood pressure lowering and antilipidemic. Research HERE’)

NOTE - careful with coconut oil, it can easily contribute to a fatty liver if you eat (not too much) of it! I couple this with intermittent fasting and ketogenic eating. My belly fat is down by 90% since following this approach :)

(8) Aronia Berries - juice or powder. One of the highest natural source of Vitamin C. Helps with inflammation, immunity and research suggests cancers. CAREFUL: some research suggests that products that use Aronia Berry extract oxidize over time so try to get juice if you are keen to try. Taking anything that is oxidized is like drinking rust in terms of what it can do to your body.

Please stay alert when purchasing this or any of your foods and supplments.

WARNING: Our body gets rid of anything more than 1,000mg of Vitamin C. I have read that, if you want to take more than 1,000 mg, to space the dosage over the day. So if you want to take 5,000 mg of Vitamin C, try 5 x 1,000mg over the day.

You Gotta Tame Stress

Stress is no friend in peri menopause or menopause

So what research reveals is that long term, ongoing stress is truly unhealthy. However, short term stress can be good. Helpful to the body.

The body does react well to short term stress. Think a gym work out with weights. Building muscle is the consequence, in part, to the body’s reaction to stress placed on it with weight training.

PS - it also jolts the bones to start growing again. Are you getting this?! No wonder everyone is on about weight bearing exercise in menopause.

Luckily a few have been gym junkies for years - and although there was an adjustment (I used to get up at 5am to meet a trainer - no longer!)

But long term, persistent stress is not good.

The research shows long term stress impacts on our body, how we function, our nerves, what it produces (free radicals that attack the body!), our emotional state, how clearly and ‘straight’ we think.

Hope you see what I mean?

Things that may not have stressed us out quite so much in our 2️0’s and 3️0’s does seem to get to us (atleast it did me) much more easily in peri menopause to the point of inaction and confusion - not knowing what to do next more easily than before.

Change!

Here’s the thing no one tells you about menpause. Your body does not abandon you even though it does put you through a huge shock(actually menopause starts in the brain!) . Your body does adjust.

Given time and space.

You may go onto prescription medicines. You may not. Thats only part of it. Menopause requires us to take better care than perhaps we ahve in the past. It really is important.

If we pay attention to sleep, stress, diet, exercise - which likely all have to change - the benefit and pay off for taking the time. For paying attention are enormous.

It literally will be life changing for the better. I know because after making adjustments - an rolling off HRT - I went onto study the UK Bar and to pass first year exams. But it took me to do a wholesale adjustment to my lifestyle to get there.

It’s worth it, right?

And so if you pay attention now - journal tracking random symptoms - you will be setting the foundations and potential for a much easier and better journey through your menopause.

Keep in mind, one of the biggest things I didn’t see coming at all, was I had not identified or…

…put a name to random symptoms that I kept thinking were something else.. so make sure you journal and track any symptoms you notice.

If you are too busy - stop for 5 minutes every day for one week. Note down anything - reflect back, be in your body as best you can for that time…

…find if there is anything you are ‘just putting up with’ because you are too busy doing life.

🌟This could be a sign that you may be starting peri menopause or menopause - the reason I raise these stealth symptoms here is that..

..they caused me such heightened stress - because I ignored these seemingly random, unconnected symptoms for years - then finally nearly came crashing down when they started to wear me down.

🌟When things became harder and then finally, in late peri menopause I succumbed to HRT (because I had wound myself so tightly, had exhausted myself almost completely) I was desparate for

If I had had someone to talk to - someone unbiased, independent and impartial I think I would have seen these symptoms for what they were - annoucing the menopause journey I was on.

So dearest Mia, don’t think you have to go this alone, OK?

I am here!

Hugs, Gra

PS: Enjoyed this blog?

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WATCH My YouTube Video - ‘My HRT Journey’ HERE

DISCLAIMER: This blog is not intended to provide assessment, diagnosis, treatment, or medical advice; it also does not constitute provision of healthcare services. The content provided in this blog is for informational and educational purposes only. Please consult with a physician or healthcare professional regarding any medical or mental health-related diagnosis or treatment. No information in this blog should ever be considered as a substitute for advice from a healthcare professional. The author of this blog shall bear no liability for any damages, loss, injury, or liability whatsoever suffered as a result of your reliance on the information contained in this blog.

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